Reviews

3.5 stars in truth.

ONCE AGAIN, a romance in which the Guy Lead is head-over-heels fuckin’ obsessed with the Lady Lead, and frankly if I’m gonna read straight romances that’s the only kind I want to read. Yes you better stan your woman! I found the chemistry between Ben and Dee both sweet and hot, and found myself wishing for a Ben-equivalent in my life throughout the book. Also, the road trip premise was fun and led to some good ol’ fashioned Rom Com Hijinks, which of course any romance of this kind should have.

My hangups were more with Dee, who was constantly like… On The Verge of big revelations or big reveals but then wouldn’t actually have the revelations or do a reveal for like another huge chunk of the book. Which is FINE, and pretty true to life I guess, but there was just something about Dee’s reticence and repression that made some of the pacing feel super weird to me. Like, if we knew sooner about her childhood poverty and food insecurity IN A COMPLEX WAY instead of the kind of throwaway lines that we get for the first part of the book, might that have given more context for some of her intense and stubborn behaviors? Would more knowledge of her backstory and her own complicated feelings about Ben from the outset have allowed for deeper emotional scenes between the two leads before the back half of the book?

This is honestly just nitpicking, because I’m lucky to know some EXTREMELY talented editors and so I’ve come to approach most things I read with their editorial brains. In general I tore through this book and it was a good romp with a cute HEA; it’s just sometimes tough when you see the potential! But all in all this was a fun take on the Road Trip Rom Com genre, and I did find the MC’s love story sweet.

neffcannon's review

Go to review page

funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

lindsay_89's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional

3.25

nuriaa_'s review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

It was kind of slow getting into the story but when I got hooked it was really good. There is slight miscommunication that leads to the main event of the book. I feel while this book is a romance it is also a literary fiction study about a relationship. Dee was such an interesting and intriguing mc and Ben was so sensible and intricate that made them such great characters. I loved the road trip aspect as well as the podcast and how they solved everything although I disagreed with some of their actions. Overall I had a really good time.

g_occasionally_reads's review

Go to review page

3.0

On today's episode of "I really, really wanted to love this book, but...": A second-chance-romance trope and a red-head, tattooed, bi/pan podcaster: I was here for all that, yet... something felt off.
Dee and Ben's thoughts/reflections felt more appropriate for people in their 50s than their late 20s. What's up with the ongoing (over)analyzing everything? Abstracting everything?
Ben's family secret is an underlining theme throughout the book, but somehow how Ben dealt (or rather did not deal) with it came across as cold.
Some other pieces do not quite go together. The book feels a bit like a bunch of puzzle

kareymckay's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

More...